'Little old ladies' reunite for annual senior pageant

Thursday

Oct 24, 2013 at 10:10 AMOct 24, 2013 at 11:54 AM

Tamara Swihart has done this all before — 13 times, to be exact.

Phil Devitt

Tamara Swihart has done this all before — 13 times, to be exact.

Every year she comes to Fall River with a suitcase full of fancy clothes and makeup. Every year she learns a dance routine, practices a poised walk across a glittery stage, travels the city by trolley and dreams of being crowned Ms. Senior Sweetheart of America.

Every year she goes home without the title.

She has stood here before, outside Diman Regional Vocational Technical High School's restaurant, after a warm meal six days before the pageant. She says this is her 14th year as a contestant. Friends Ida White and Ruth Berkel say they are in their 13th and 12th years, respectively. And that's when it hits 74-year-old Swihart. A title of her own.

"I know what to call us," the Michigan woman says. "The Biggest Losers."

The ladies laugh as they board their Hampton Inn-bound trolley, but White, 78, doesn't necessarily agree.

"We are the biggest winners," she says. "We get to come back every year and have fun. I don't care about the win. I don't mean that in a negative way, but it's more about the fellowship and the union."

The Ms. Senior Sweetheart of America Pageant returns to Fall River for its 35th year Sunday, Oct. 27, featuring 12 contestants from all over the country, each with their own talent, evening gown and desire to show the world they still have plenty to offer.

Cynthia Amarello, 86, has something to prove in her second year on stage. The retired registered nurse and Fall River resident decorated her walker with red roses ahead of the big dance number she has planned for the talent portion.

"I have been dancing since I was a little girl," she says. "I loved to waltz with my father and I used to go out dancing with my husband three times a week. I want to give inspiration to people out there who want to do things but are afraid."

Amarello says she'll leave the flowers on her walker until they fall off.

The pageant is just as much a celebration of old age for the people behind the scenes as it is for the contestants. President Lenny Kaplan says he was in his 40s when he came up with the idea for what was supposed to be a one-time Lion's Club fundraiser. Now 83, Kaplan says the pageant still inspires him.

"When we started this, I said, 'We're gonna get a bunch of little old ladies together and show the world these little old ladies are not dead and buried yet,'" says the longtime Fall River businessman.

Kaplan's assistant, 96-year-old Yvette Mancini, says she will retire from active participation after this year.

"I have to quit," she says. "My family has told me enough is enough. Next year I will be a guest and won't have to do any work and, oh, that's gonna be beautiful."

New blood is stepping forward to keep the pageant going well into the future. Mancini says pageant coordinator Heather Salva will take on her duties — which include booking flights for contestants — starting next year. And at least one new contestant is making the pageant a family tradition, of sorts.

Diana Bombardier of Rehoboth will follow in the footsteps of her mother and 1996 queen MaryLee Pompeii of Attleboro when she vies for the crown Sunday. Pompeii, 87, who returns yearly to "see the old gals," gets to spend the week introducing her daughter to pageant life.

As for Bombardier, the reason for joining was simple. She loves her mother.

"It was her dream for us to do it together and I wanted to make her dream come true," she says.

Phil Devitt can be reached at editor@fallriverspirit.com or (508) 979-4492.